I. A record of experiments upon the functions of the cerebral cortex

Abstract

The experiments which are here recorded are selected from a series which we have been engaged upon during the past three years, having for their object the further elucidation of the functions of the several parts of the cerebral cortex, with especial reference to localisation of the centres for voluntary action and sensation. They were undertaken by us in the hope of clearing up some of the discrepancies in the evidence offered upon these points by previous observers, and for this purpose it was important to go over ground which had already been trodden; but we subsequently found it to be necessary to investigate portions of the cortex which, probably by reason of difficulty of access, had not, so far as we could ascertain, been touched by our predecessors in this field of physiological research, and particularly the convolutions upon the mesial aspect of the hemisphere, viz., the gyrus marginalis and the gyrus fornicatus. Methods . The methods we have employed have been: 1. Electrical Excitation, and 2. Ablation. For the purposes of electrical excitation we have generally used a du Bois-Reymond inductorium, with a metallic reed interruptor in place of the usual Wagner hammer, so arranged that, as with the Helmholtz side-wire, the primary current is never entirely opened; this method we have already described elsewhere. The strength of the excitation used was always such as to produce no more than a slight pricking sensation on the tongue.